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Denver’s post-deadline pickup of Reggie Jackson is an ill omen for Bruce Brown, and that manifested itself on Thursday. With Brown (53 percent rostered in Yahoo! standard leagues) relinquishing backup point guard responsibilities, he struggled to find footing, finishing his night with just two points, two rebounds, two assists, and no threes or defense. I fear he won’t have enough volume moving forward to put up counting stats, or enough time to make for it with defense. I’m ready to cut bait  on him right now.

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The legend grows. 

With the Jazz hanging on to a 1-point lead with seconds left on the clock, Collin Sexton stepped to the line and choked away two free throws in a row. But our hero, Walker Kessler, Utah Ranger – who kicks posterior not just for a living, but for America – bullied his way to an offensive rebound and was fouled. 

There, he faced his most challenging nemesis of all: the free throw line. What’s he do? But, of course, he steps up and drains back-to-back; turns, and flashes a look to the camera that says, “Even I can’t believe how much of a badass I can be.”

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Long-suffering Kings fans are back on the hopium, and since 2006 was the last time we witnessed playoff basketball in Sacramento, who can blame them? But after February’s blockbuster trade, an outstanding Summer League performance from their first round pick, and a pair of free agent guard acquisitions, there is a sense that the optimism is warranted.  On paper, the Kings have a more focused roster built around the playmaking abilities of De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis.  They get a fresh start to a season after shedding players who didn’t want to be there – Buddy Hield and Marvin Bagley III.  They have arguably more depth with Richaun Holmes shifting to the bench, Malik Monk playing significant minutes off the pine, and Davion Mitchell continuing to develop.  They have a new head coach in Mike Brown who will seek pull them out of the bottom half of the defensive rankings.  This time may be different…

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Welcome to your midweek guidance for Week 14!  There are still a few players in protocols, but we’re firmly on the back end of the recent spike in illness.  While this is generally good news for all, it means I can no longer blame COVID for my faulty predictions and recommendations.  On the other hand, I am enjoying the return to a time when my recommendations survived for more than two hours before being extinguished by the latest round of mass testing.  I’m not ready to declare “ops normal” just yet, as the situation is still fluid, but things are headed in the right direction.  Regardless of what’s going on in the background, my goal is to provide you with the best widely available streaming options in hopes of giving you an edge in your head-to-head category matchups.

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The Utah Jazz defeated the Denver Nuggets 125-102, snapping a four-game losing streak. The Jazz were just 1-4 without Rudy Gobert in the lineup and Gobert and Donovan Mitchell seemed to trade subliminal jabs in press conferences and on social media. They appear to have righted the ship, for now. The Jazz are a bit of conundrum. They are an undeniably good team that has been labeled “a regular season team” for a few years, maybe even erroneously, except it didn’t matter because they did fall short of expectations in the playoffs. This year, there is once again general indifference towards the team outside of Utah and most interested parties are just wondering when Donovan Mitchell asks for a trade because he can’t get along with Gobert. The Jazz can’t get very far without Donovan Mitchell’s scoring, but they appear even more doom-struck without Gobert’s defense. What can be done? Would Jerami Grant help? Harrison Barnes? Whatever happens, I know fans outside of Utah will watch with crazy-eyed delight if the foundation once again crumbles beneath them in the playoffs.

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Welcome to your midweek guidance for Week Eight! In competitive leagues, the difference between winning and losing often comes down to which player(s) you pick up. The goal of this post is to help you identify those players on your wire who can help win tight head-to-head matchups.  While I primarily focus on nine-category formats, there is applicability for points leagues and eight-category as well.

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Everyone has their favorite day. The psychopaths enjoy Monday. Those who straddle the fence find equilibrium on Wednesday. The party-goers cannot wait for Friday, although, the true-to-the-cause live everyday as if it’s the same. The spiritual find solace and peace on Sunday. Me? It’s always a good day when a player messes around but I especially appreciate Trae Day. Trae Young is not the stereotypical NBA player who is built like a football player, jumps like a flea, or has limbs that would make Mr. and Mrs. Plastic ask for a DNA test. Young is 6-foot-1, 164 pounds, and looks as if he just stuck his finger into the electric socket. That said, he’s got thhhhrrrreeeeeecccooooooollllaaaaa range on the J, handles that causes love to weep, and a Chinese water torture floater. Last night, he went off….

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In a game that was billed as a mini-test for the Warriors before they matched up against the big bad Phoenix Suns, Steph Curry decided against taking the test and instead lit the exam on fire in some form of avant-garde performance art. Curry and the Warriors defeated the Clippers 105-90 on Sunday, extending their winning streak to seven games and pushing them to a league-best 18-2 on the season. A decade ago, their upcoming matchup against the Suns would have been an easy Western Conference Finals preview, but as the demands of the regular season continue to diverge from those of the playoffs, it can be hard to make projections with any sort of confidence. In any case, it will be a marquee matchup, well worth tuning in for.

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There is a reason the last week of the NBA schedule is usually avoided by many fantasy leagues, as it has been called the “Silly” season. Many teams are all out of objectives to chase and are flat out tanking or have already clinched their playoff spots and are resting their stars and even rotational players. This results in many funky boxscores that are not to be expected at any other point of the season. Corey Brewer anyone?

But don’t be afraid, I am here for you to squeeze fantasy value even in this trying part of the fantasy schedule. If your H2H league is still running though, may I suggest an alteration for next year in order to finish it one week earlier, but for you fine folks that play Roto this is the most important week of the year as you chase the categories that can give you that one extra point to win it all. As a result, I don’t see a reason to include a Sell column at this time, as anyone can be safely dropped at this point of the season with so few games left.

Regarding last week’s suggestions, Kent Bazemore and R.J. Hampton continued their solid finish to the season, while Frank Jackson unfortunately got injured. Special mention to Mo Bamba who also got injured but this finish to the season suggests that he will be a major draft target for next year and can be a true breakout star if he can get the starting spot from Wendel Carter Jr.

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The NBA regular season is quickly coming to a close with only a week left of games. The urgency across the league is truly starting to show as teams make their late-season postseason push. Every single game matters and every outcome influences a different storyline. Some teams are trying to control their playoff destiny by fighting to maintain their Top-6 seed. Other teams are jockeying for position within the Play-In tournament picture. At the end of the day, the fight for a spot in the postseason is underway and every night could have a serious impact on the Eastern and Western Conference standings.

On the second to last slate of Friday Night NBA regular-season games, we got some premiere matchups along with some interesting Playoff/Play-In implications. So, with that being said here are our top performers from last night’s matchups!

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